Samsung has ditched the physical Home Button from the front of its latest phone, which enables it to extend the display to the very edge of the chassis.

Unfortunately, the fingerprint scanner – previously embedded within the button – has now been relegated to the back of the phone.

The problem is that Samsung has placed the small fingerprint sensor next to the camera lens.

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The fiddly fingerprint scanner is right next to the camera lens

With the scanner so close to the camera, and hidden from view when you're using the smartphone, there will probably be a tendency for Galaxy S8 owners to blindly fumble and cover the camera lens in mucky fingerprints.

Samsung is aware that this could be an issue. When using the phone, Samsung's default camera app will randomly launch a pop-up that wants users that "A clean lens makes for better shots. Clean your camera lens to keep taking better pictures.”

However a new prototype Galaxy S8 leaked online appears to show that this rear-mounted fingerprint was not part of Samsung's initial plans for the phone.

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The leaked prototype device has a dual camera set-up – and no rear-mounted fingerprint scanner

According to the Korean Herald, "Samsung poured resources into Synaptics’ fledgling technology last year but the results were frustrating.

"With the production imminent, the company had to decide to relocate the fingerprint scanning home button to the back of the device at the last minute."

We'll never know whether the technology actually worked, or whether it was feasible for the production scale Samsung needed for the Galaxy S8 – but if these leaked images are anything to go by, it certainly looks slicker.